Key Takeaways
- Final: Bears 24, Titans 15 on Saturday, Aug. 29 at Nissan Stadium — the last game of the 2026 NFL preseason.
- Tyson Bagent went 16-of-17 in the first half with two touchdown passes and a 156.9 passer rating, per the Sun-Times; rookie Zavion Thomas caught a 97-yard score on Chicago's first snap.
- Tennessee's seven-game preseason win streak ended, and the Titans did not reach the end zone until 3:50 remained in the fourth quarter.
- Every NFL roster must be down to 53 players by 5 p.m. Sunday, per the Sun-Times. Week 1 starts Sept. 9 with Patriots at Seahawks.
The Chicago Bears beat the Tennessee Titans 24-15 at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night, ending Tennessee’s seven-game preseason winning streak and closing the book on the 2026 NFL preseason. Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent hit rookie Zavion Thomas for a 97-yard touchdown on Chicago’s first offensive play and finished the first half 16-of-17 with two scoring passes, per The Athletic’s live coverage and the Chicago Sun-Times.
The more consequential deadline arrives roughly 20 hours later. All 32 teams have to cut from 90 players to 53 by Sunday afternoon — which is what most of the men on the field Saturday were actually playing for.
One play, and the game was effectively over
Most of Chicago’s starters sat. Caleb Williams spent the afternoon throwing to the regulars in a pre-kickoff session rather than playing, per the Sun-Times. None of it mattered, because the Bears scored on their first snap of the night: Bagent to Zavion Thomas, 97 yards.
Bagent’s line was absurd for a preseason finale — 16 completions on 17 attempts in the first half, two touchdowns, and a 156.9 passer rating. Thomas doubled as a punt returner and repeatedly found open space, per The Athletic. Roschon Johnson led all rushers with 12 carries for 41 yards and added a third-quarter touchdown that pushed it to 21-9.
Tennessee’s second half was, statistically, a shutout inside a shutout. The Titans did not record a single second-half first down across three drives, and third-quarter yardage finished Bears 105, Titans minus-1, per The Athletic. Cairo Santos added a field goal after another three-and-out to make it 24-9.
The Titans finally scored with 3:50 left, on a nine-yard D’Ernest Johnson run that capped a 74-yard drive built largely on Hendon Hooker’s 12- and 17-yard scrambles. The two-point try failed when Chicago’s pass rush sacked Hooker.
The real event is Sunday at 5 p.m.
Preseason results are close to meaningless. Cutdown day is not. Every club has to reach 53 players, which means roughly 37 people per team get told no over the course of a single afternoon. Teams can then re-sign some of them to the practice squad the following day, per The Athletic.
The Bears’ own preview named six players whose August auditions mattered most: Roush, a third-round tight end out of Stanford competing for the No. 3 role behind Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet; Jones, the second-round center from Iowa; Alexander, a first-year receiver and return man from Florida International; Van den Berg, a sixth-round rookie linebacker from Georgia Tech; Sanborn, a core special-teamer back for a second stint; and Hardy, who led the team with 19 special teams tackles last season. Head coach Ben Johnson called Van den Berg — who grew up in South Africa playing rugby and cricket and didn’t start football until high school — “a beast,” adding: “He’s an incredible athlete, and he’s still learning the game of football to a degree, and yet it’s amazing what he brings to the table.”
Jones is the interesting one. He won the Rimington Trophy as college football’s best center last year and was a unanimous All-American, but veteran Garrett Bradbury is presumed to be Chicago’s opening-day starter — so Saturday may have been his biggest workload for a while, per the team’s preview.
The Bears also got the health news they wanted. Receiver Luther Burden, recovering from a groin injury, caught passes from Williams before kickoff. “He looks 100% to me,” Johnson said, per the Sun-Times — a meaningful line two weeks out from the opener.
One quirk worth noting for anyone tracking Ben Johnson’s staff development: quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett called plays in the second half Saturday. Receivers coach Antwaan Randle El did the same in preseason Game 1, and tight ends coach Jim Dray in Game 2. Three assistants, three second halves.
Detroit closed the day out too
Earlier Saturday, the Detroit Lions beat the Indianapolis Colts 25-16, piling up 356 yards of offense, per The Athletic. Indianapolis had two bright spots: kicker Spencer Shrader made a 60-yard field goal, and cornerback Sauce Gardner intercepted Lions quarterback Luke Altmyer.
That’s the whole 2026 preseason, done. If you followed Friday night’s other finale, the Saints’ 27-24 win over the Cowboys set up the same cut-clock problem for two more rosters.
The stadium story hiding in the box score
Saturday’s game was played at Nissan Stadium — the old one. The Titans are building the new Nissan Stadium “just feet from the original,” per the Sun-Times, set to open next year, and have already been awarded the Super Bowl at the end of the 2029 season.
The funding is the part that stuck with Chicago’s beat writers, who have spent years covering the Bears’ own stadium saga. When the Nashville sports authority pledged $760 million in 2022 and the state of Tennessee added $500 million more, it became the largest public contribution ever made to an NFL stadium.
What happens next
Rosters go to 53 on Sunday, waiver claims and practice-squad signings follow Monday, and then football stops for a week and a half.
The regular season opens Wednesday, Sept. 9, with New England at Seattle in a Super Bowl rematch, per The Athletic. Fifteen more games follow on Sept. 13 and 14. Chicago opens at Carolina; Tennessee hosts the Jets. Our NFL 2026 kickoff guide has the full Week 1 slate and the broadcast oddities, including the midweek opener.
For fantasy players, the next 48 hours are the ones that actually move draft boards — cut lists reshuffle depth charts, and the last-minute practice-squad churn is where handcuff running backs and No. 3 receivers get decided. Our 2026 draft cheat sheet is built around consensus rankings that will shift once the 53s are public.
As for Bagent: a 16-of-17 half against a defense playing mostly reserves does not make anyone a starter. It does make him one of the more secure backup quarterbacks in the league heading into a season where teams are openly debating whether to keep two or three at the position.
Quick poll
How much should a preseason finale change your view of a team?
Our take: the result is noise, but the roster decisions it triggers on cutdown day are real.
FAQ
What was the final score of Bears vs. Titans? Chicago 24, Tennessee 15, on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville — the final game of the 2026 NFL preseason.
When is the NFL 53-man roster deadline? Rosters must be trimmed from 90 to 53 by 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30, per the Chicago Sun-Times. Teams can add players to practice squads the following day.
Who is Zavion Thomas? A Bears rookie who caught a 97-yard touchdown pass from Tyson Bagent on Chicago’s first offensive play Saturday and also worked as a punt returner.
When does the 2026 NFL regular season start? Wednesday, Sept. 9, with the Patriots at the Seahawks in a Super Bowl rematch. Most of Week 1 is played Sept. 13, with Denver at Kansas City on Sept. 14.
Who do the Bears and Titans play in Week 1? Chicago opens at Carolina on Sept. 13. Tennessee hosts the New York Jets the same day.
